Match of the Week: Arsenal 4, Leicester City 3

Olivier Giroud scored late in the game as Arsenal rallied several times to beat Leicester City in the first game of the 2017-18 Premier League season. ESPN FC

Arsenal couldn’t help but make the opening night of the 2017-18 Premier League season thrilling.

The home opener at the Emirates Stadium start with a bang when Alexandre Lacazette scored two minutes into the match. Mohammend Elneny placed a superb cross to Lacazette who flicked the ball ointo the back of Leicester City’s net.

Arsenal’s lead didn’t last long. Three minutes after Lacazette’s debut goal, Shinji Okazaki tied the score by deflecting in a cross by Marc Albrighton.

Players were given a chance to breathe for a bit until Leicester struck again 20 minutes later. After a mistake by Arsenal’s defense — which was shockingly comman throughout the game — Albrighton smoothly placed a low hanging ball across Petr Cech‘s six-yard-box right to the feet of Jamie Vardy. He who smashed the ball into the back of the net.

Arsenal leveled the score minutes before halftime when Danny Welbeck received a tap in after an odd scuffle in Leicester’s box.

Both teams entered the locker room at halftime with their heads hung low. Arsenal’s disastrous mistakes in the back led to opportunities while Leicester struggled to gain possession. Neither side made changes entering the second half.

The start of the second was quiet. Both sides swapped possession until the 56th minute when Vardy scored his second. From af another corner, Leicester regained the lead after Vardy headed in the go-ahead goal.

The two substitutes brought energized Arsenal’s attack. The tempo slowed and the Gunners looked relaxed on the ball.

Chance after chance, it was clear Leicester City’s players were showing their fatigue, and it was only a matter of time for Arsenal.

Arsenal’s two substitutes scored back-to-back goals within three minutes with fewer than 10 minutes left in the game. Ramsey smashed a sitter from a few yards out and Giroud headed the game winner off the crossbar.

Leicester City was a difficult opponent, but outmatched by Arsenal. The Gunners controlled possession and poured into the attack against Leicester’s backline in the final half-hour.